Action Point with Cynthia Black 04-27-2008: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• POLITICS: NATIONAL: CAMPAIGN 2008: Pennsylvania & the Persistence of the Race Chasm: by David Sirota;

  A few weeks ago, I published an article in In These Times showing how Hillary Clinton has been winning states almost exclusively in the Race Chasm - states whose populations are more than 6 percent but less than 17 percent black. The results of the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania - a state whose demographics fall squarely in the Race Chasm - continue the trend.

• FRAMING: ROCKRIDGE INSTITUTE: To Catch a Wolf: How to Stop Conservative Frames in Their Tracks:

  We applaud Senator Obama. Every progressive should refuse to answer such "when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife" questions. Obama's words: "This is the kind of question that is designed precisely to divide us" could be a polite but effective mantra.

  AND: Why Voters Aren't Motivated by a Laundry List of Positions on Issues:

  There are two kinds of policy: cognitive and material. Material policies are familiar: they outline what is to be done in the world. For example, the details of a health care plan, or a plan for getting out of Iraq. Material policies each have a cognitive dimension, often unconscious and implicit. This includes the ideas, frames, values, and modes of thought that inform the political understanding of the material policy. AND just as a reminder of what you already know

  AND: The Radical Right's Weakness:

  Progressives commonly wring their hands in despair when conservatives use Orwellian language. They shouldn't. The use of Orwellian language signals to us where conservatives are weak. Forget that their deceptiveness is immoral. The point is that they are weak and are revealing their weakness. If they had public support, they could freely call their initiative the Dirty Skies Act.

• ELECTION SECURITY: Clinton's Blind Eye to Voters:

  So, Hillary claims a victory in Pennsylvania. Who could have predicted that? Maybe Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

  AND: FEC Stalemate Leaves McCain Hanging:

  With November's elections a little more than six months away, a Senate stalemate over nominations has left the FEC powerless to act on anything from John McCain's bid for $84 million in public financing to a stay-at-home dad's request to pay himself a small salary from whatever campaign contributions he can raise as an independent candidate for Congress.

• CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM: Alliance Defense Fund: The threat of Christian Nationalism is not waning. On schools and campuses nationwide the radical right agenda to indoctrinate young minds with moral irrationalism in the name of Christianity spreads at an alarming rate. If we are to establish the tolerant values of liberalism as the guiding principles clearly intended by the founders of this nation, it is imperative to shine a brilliant and unflinching light on those who threaten it most. Of the institutions aligned against freethought today I am most concerned about ADF and its mindless commitment to obliterating among others, the ACLU.
  

AND: REIGNDOWN USA:

Honestly, I can't begin to find one section of this website to accurately represent what is being marketed. Flip through it's many pages and just in keep mind only two of those associated with this “cause”: Trent Franks and Strang. And did I mention, the pro-zionist promotion of McCain backer John “The Catholic Church is the Great Whore” Hagee?!

• MUST READ: The Importance of Black Voters, and the Stupidity of Ignoring Them: From David Sirota;

  First and foremost is the idea that black voters are, indeed, treated as less important than white voters. I would even take it a step further: black voters are not only considered unimportant, but are considered only as black voters and nothing else - a very subtly derogatory and dehumanizing characterization in that it implies African Americans are just one dimensional simpletons, rather than multi-dimensional humans.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 02-17-2008 The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• PERSONAL SECURITY: Christian Right's Emerging Deadly Worldview: Kill Muslims to Purify the Earth: You know, I was once skeptical of claims that the religious right posed a threat to average Americans. I grew up in the age of “Jesus Freaks” who were more irritating than troublesome. Once online access gave me “eyes-on” access to their thinking, I knew I was wrong. Today's “Jesus Freaks” want to kill, and they have the government to do it. So here is yet another chilling but sad update on how the “least of these” is trying to actually obliterate “the rest of them”:

  Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani are the three stooges of the Christian right. These self-described former Muslim terrorists are regularly trotted out -- a few days ago they were at the Air Force Academy -- to spew racist filth about Islam on behalf of groups such as Focus on the Family. It is a clever tactic. Curly, Larry and Mo, who all say they are born-again Christians, engage in hate speech and assure us it comes from personal experience.

• RESOURCE (FRAMING): Students Are Like Plants, Not Widgets: Rockridge Institute's excellent advice for presenting Democratic policy on education issues.

• POLITICS: NATIONAL: CAMPAIGN 2008: Less Jobs More Wars: is an interesting new video and campaign from Brave New Films that you can use to frame the McCain war rhetoric in the context of it's likely losses-- American economic security.
  

AND Democracy For America has taken on an interesting wrinkle in elections for Democrats this year: super-delegates. As you know by now, super-delegates were designed by the Democratic party to alter the popular vote would it not turn out the candidate the party elite had intended may not get elected, as happened at the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention. DFA has some suggestions with Let The Voters Decide on what to do about that:

Thirty-seven states and U.S. territories have already voted and we don't have a clear nominee. Senators Clinton and Obama are in a delegate race to the nomination. There are a lot of ways that delegates get assigned to a specific candidate, but almost all of the allocated delegates are directly tied and bound by the actual votes in each primary or caucus - all of them that is, except super-delegates.

• DIRTY TRICKS: Americans United Urges IRS To Investigate Two Religious Right Groups For Biased Voter Guides:

  The Internal Revenue Service should investigate two prominent tax-exempt Religious Right groups that produced biased voter guides for the presidential election, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

  In complaints filed today with the IRS, Americans United charged that voter guides produced by the American Family Association and WallBuilders are clearly designed to promote Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

  The guides, posted on the groups’ Web sites, list the Republican candidates and their alleged stands on a range of issues, such as support for a human life amendment, “traditional marriage,” “business freedom” and “moral education” and opposition to “gay pride.” Only Huckabee is assigned a “yes” stance on all of the issues.

  AND: 3 US workers face investigation over Obama e-mail:

  Three federal employees are being investigated for unlawful political activities after they allegedly sent an e-mail falsely accusing Barack Obama of being a "radical Muslim," the Globe has learned.

• ENVIRONMENT: Does carbon trading really work?: Larry Lohmann, editor of Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, critiques cap-and-trade.

• NATIONAL SECURITY (IRAN): In 2007 I committed to preventing an unnecessary strike on Iran and formed a small ad-hoc group, Strike Prevention Task Force, through which to do my part. This video “The Folly of Attacking Iran” also found on one of my favorite resources, Iran Nuclear Watch, is a must-see!

• SPEAKING OF TORTURE: Lieberman Endorses Waterboarding Since 'It's Not Like Using Hot Coals' on People:

  Yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) "reluctantly acknowledged" that he doesn't believe waterboarding is torture. According to the Connecticut Post, Lieberman downplayed the severity of the waterboarding because it doesn't inflict permanent physical damage...

• THE ANDREW MYERS FILE (or How I Learned to Stop Caring About Overt Government Insecurity Interfering With My Right to Privacy): Bush orders Clampdown on Flights to US:

  The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for transatlantic travel, including allowing armed guards on all flights from Europe to America by US airlines. The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a travel clampdown by the Bush regime that officials in Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see west Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their governments balk at Washington's requirements. According to a US document being circulated for signature in European capitals, EU states would also need to supply personal data on all air passengers overflying but not landing in the US in order to gain or retain visa-free travel to America, senior EU officials said.

  (Hat-tip -- Citizens For Legitimate Government)

• No Comment: I have a personal commitment to aiding those with environmentally induced toxic responses, sometimes called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, et al. This You Tube link came to me from an online resource seeking support via email to British government authorities to help the victim in this case receive protection. Please, do what you can.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 01-27-2008 The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• ECONOMY: Stimulus Gone Bad:

  House Democrats and the White House have reached an agreement on an economic stimulus plan. Unfortunately, the plan — which essentially consists of nothing but tax cuts and gives most of those tax cuts to people in fairly good financial shape — looks like a lemon.

• CAMPAIGN 2008: Tools: Dr. King and the Cognitive Dimension of Leadership: In last week's show I commented on how I had realized that the kind of president I was seeking had “fallen in love” with what Dr. Martin Luther King had loved enough to fight and even die for: social justice. Seems I was not the only one in whom that understanding has taken root. From the excellent resource Rockridge Institute:

  Senator Hillary Clinton's remarks this month about the roles and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Lyndon Johnson provided fodder for countless blogs, opinion columns, and radio and television programs. While many have argued about the intent of Clinton's comments, the discussion has largely glossed over the unconventional nature of Dr. King's leadership and the type of change he sought. Without an understanding of the cognitive dimension of the leadership that Dr. King embodied, we cannot fully appreciate his achievements or hope to effect the lasting changes that our world demands.

  AND Past holds key to Democratic future: Excellent article on the actual differences between Barack and Hillary.

  During Clinton and Obama's shared service in the Senate, they have disagreed on multiple votes that may not have made headlines at the time but do shed light on how they would approach the presidency. In fact, the two self-styled progressive senators often diverged on policies that are particularly important to Democratic liberals.

• DIRTY TRICKS: One of Action Point's guests this week reminds us that if we think Senator Hillary can take whatever Republicans can throw her way, we have not yet begun to see exactly what Presidential candidate Hillary may have to face: Citizens United Productions Is Proud To Announce The Release Of "Hillary" The Movie.
  

• ENVIRONMENT: Huffington Post Gets Astroturfed: From Treehuuger.com:

  When Stats.org first popped up in my reader with its "The Worst Science Stories of 2007: STATS Dubious Data Awards" I immediately wrote it off as the rantings of a wingnut who hangs out with Steven Milloy or Terrence Corcoran in the junk science brigade; in just one article, author Trevor Butterworth dumps on San Francisco's Mayor Gavin for banning water bottles, calls fire retardants harmless, declares gender-bender chemicals like phthalates a statistical anomaly and other inanities. I didn't bother finishing it. Then I learned that it was published on the Huffington Post, a usually respectable blog that leans left and that Butterworth is a regular columnist. Butterworth is also the editor of STATS.org, "a non-profit, non-partisan organization"..."[whose] goals are to correct scientific misinformation in the media resulting from bad science, politics, or a simple lack of information or knowledge."

  AND Plan to allow logging in Alaskan forest:

  More than 3 million acres in Alaska's Tongass National Forest would be open to logging under a federal plan that supporters believe will revive the state's struggling timber industry.

• MUST READ: The Politics of Hopelessness: another excellent piece from David Sirota:

  "You were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart." - Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton, 1/22/08 That exchange from the presidential debate last night lasted about 3 seconds - if you flipped the channel for a moment, you might have missed it. That was the amount of time the two leading candidates for the Democratic nomination for president spent talking about the corporate takeover of our government - the issue that almost singularly drives American politics and that is at the core of our country's most fundamental problems.

• PERSONAL SECURITY ALERT: Bush Order Expands Network Monitoring:

  President Bush signed a directive this month that expands the intelligence community's role in monitoring Internet traffic to protect against a rising number of attacks on federal agencies' computer systems.

  AND Senate Defeats 1st Try To Strip Telcos Of FISA Immunity:

  Lawmakers in the Senate defeated an initial attempt Thursday to strip immunity for telecommunications companies out of a bill reauthorizing the federal government's warrantless wiretapping program. Senators approved a motion to table an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would have removed the immunity provision in the bill. The vote was 60-34.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 12-02-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• The Campaign Frame: Sex, Lies and Crooked Guys: Jeffrey Feldman takes on Rudy's woes.

• IRAN: IRAN Links: Thirteen links to Iran-related discussions, research papers, facts, opinion and commentary.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 11-04-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• From the Giuliani File: Councilman Gioia "I will do everything in my power to get answers, to get the truth"

  "...we have been working with the good folks at Brave New Films to get the New York City Council to investigate the way the administration of Rudy Giuliani handled the replacement and deployment of the FDNY radios that proved to be such a source of tragedy on 9/11. We delivered a petition urging action with almost 20,000 signatures to Councilman Eric Gioia on Monday and were very pleased at his initial reaction. Today we have even more video of the Councilman stating in very strong terms that he not only supports such an inquiry but is doing all he can to get the ball rolling.

• MUST READ: Bush Threatens to Veto Aid to Workers Harmed by Outsourcing: another excellent piece from David Sirota:

  At the same time the White House is pushing to vastly expand the job-killing, wage-destroying NAFTA trade model, we get this from
  Bloomberg News (full story attached below):
  "President George W. Bush may veto legislation to expand benefits for
  workers harmed by international trade because it would cover more
  workers than necessary

• Framing the Debate: The Real Meaning of 'Free Press': from Jeffrey Feldman,
  

• From the "I Think I'm Gonna Scream Now" File: Theocracy Now! Max Blumenthal keeps his eye on the wackadoodles so you don't have to...

• Update to The Andrew Meyers File: Don't Tase Me 'Bro Student Won't Be Charged: and his future with Greg Palast!

• Foreign Policy File: Putting the 'Israel Lobby' in Perspective and from Iran Nuclear Watch: Another Letter to the President on Iran

• FASCISM WATCH: Debt and Development, Presidential-Style: in the not-too-distant past Greg Palast and I discussed just this topic:

  "Co-reported alongside the news that Hunt Oil Company of Dallas had entered into an oil development contract in Iraqi Kurdistan was the fact that Hunt Oil's head honcho was a multi-million dollar contributor to the planned George W. Bush Presidential Library project."

• No Explanation Needed: Scholar links Bush's US and Hirohito:

  A top US scholar of wartime Japan said Wednesday that the Bush administration's "war on terror" bore close parallels to Japan's past militarism through a defiance of international law.
  
  Herbert Bix, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his landmark biography of wartime emperor Hirohito, said he believed US aerial bombings and alleged use of torture in Afghanistan and Iraq constituted war crimes.
  
  "The current American rampage in Iraq and elsewhere, not to mention the Bush administration's threats of war against Iran, so clearly replicates Imperial Japan during the period when its leaders willfully disregarded international law and pursued the diplomacy of force," Bix said during a visit to Tokyo.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 10-21-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• Beyond MOVEON: First: MoveOn.org Didn't Invent BetrayUs- The Troops Did! Then, Moveon created: Americans for Exit. THEN, Limbaugh got busted with his "Soldiers who don't go to Iraq to die are 'phony' faux paux. LAST WEEK, Michelle Malkin took a shot at MoveOn.org with "Sue me"! And this week, we're back to "[W]e're going to find out where your kids go to school" Limbaugh!
  

• From the Rudy "Broomstick" Giuliani File: The Real Rudy: Brave New Films keeps the truth comin' -- this time a film on Rudy giving 9-11 firefighters mobiles that did *not* "phone home."
  

• The Arizona Cowboy Justice File? Remember last week -- TB Patient Flees U.S. "Abuse" For Russia: "A tuberculosis patient, whose months-long incarceration in an Arizona hospital jail ward led to sharp criticism, has left the United States, unable to "take the abuse" any more..."? Oh, and this the week before? Family Blames Police in Airport Death: "Gotbaum's body bears several bruises and marks, including a neck bruise that could have been caused if the shackle chain asphyxiated her. Manning, a high-profile lawyer who represented the government against failed savings and loan executive Charles Keating, has previously won settlements against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in wrongful-death lawsuits." Well, now there's this: Sheriff's Deputies Arrest "New Times" Owners: oh, and Joe wants the online readers of New Times too. Huh. All that and spying and average citizens reading habits too... still wondering what an "imperial" Giuliani presidency will look like?
  

• MUST READ: Dems Fume About the Tyranny of the Tiny Minority and The Invisible Culture of Corruption: from David Sirota:

  "...the letter now blanketing Capitol Hill is a masterpiece of deceit. Forty-three former Democratic officeholders signed this letter, which demands Congress pass trade deals with Peru, Panama and Colombia —pacts that will expand the job-killing, wage-destroying NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)."

• From the "Gore's Nobel Prize" File: Erring on the Side of Tabloidism: I may not want him for my president, but that has nothing to do with covering news properly!

• ENVIRONMENT -- Report on the Slow Heat Death of the Human Race: Top 100 Ways Global Warming Will Change Your Life: We're going to pick one today, to discuss. What's your favorite?

• Framing the Debate --How To Talk About Blackwater: "The Prince" from Jeffrey Feldman, FRONTLINE: "Private Warriors" from Bill Moyers and "Blackwater Down": by Jeremy Scahill.

• UPDATE ON The 5%'ers Own 'Lil Moveon.org: Freedom's Watch Watch: Founding Donors Get Name-Dropped By GOP Frontrunners HUFFPO reporter Michael Roston brings us the skinny on the group investing in things like the the invasion of Iran, among others...
  

Action Point with Cynthia Black 9-30-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• More MOVEON: First, don't forget this: MoveOn.org Didn't Invent BetrayUs- The Troops Did! Or this: excellent piece from George Lakoff on Betrayal framing. And these attacks trying to compare Moveon to McCarthy should be kept in mind when defending the very effective Betray Us frame. What's even better though is that Moveon is fighting back:

  Americans for Exit: "...a powerful new project that will remind our representatives that those of us against the war are America—we're teachers, factory workers, lawyers, moms, dads, students, secretaries, and dog owners. We're 70% of the country, we vote, and we're fed up with the war. Here's how it works: You send us a picture of you which shows how you feel about the war. Then, you'll record a voice message to Congress. We'll put together a big unveiling, use your photos and words in an ad campaign and deliver them to your members of Congress. We'll make it impossible for them to ignore you. "
  

• IMHO (Elections and Rude-y): Hedge Fund Giant Paul Singer Tries to Buy California for Rudy: This week we find Vulture fund manager Paul Singer ain't taking any chances on DOJ election manipulation re: the possible pro-Giuliani Mukasey appointment. Simple corruption-- like money-laundering-- is just faster and so much more "Republican": CALIFORNIA MONEYMAN UNMASKED:

  Rudy Giuliani’s top fundraiser, hedge fund giant Paul Singer, revealed himself today as the sole financial backer of a stalled ballot drive to turn California into a motherlode of Republican votes in 2008.
  

One more Rudey thing, from Robert Greenwald: Rudy skips minority debate to fundraise with Bo Derek.

• Elections (More) : GOP Says They'll Continue Voter Suppression Tactics: from Alternet: The Republican Party plans to continue a legal tactic that targets the right to vote of likely Democrats -- often minorities. AND Voter Purging: A Legal Way for Republicans to Swing Elections? Now the Department of Justice, like the Republican Party, wants fewer registered voters in 2008.

• Elections (On the brighter side): "VoteRescue Radio--Where People Count...One Vote at a Time" beginning this Sunday, September 30th, from 2-4 pm (Central), streaming live on We the People Radio Network (100.1 FM in the Austin area).

• Scott Ritter is Waging Peace: The Art of War for The Antiwar Movement: I know, I know. Read it anyway because he's also right on this one.
  

• From The File Formerly Known as The Andrew Meyers File: Fake Bomb Charge an Overreaction: The MIT student (Star Simpson) who walked into Logan International Airport wearing a computer circuit board and wiring on her sweat shirt claimed it was harmless artwork. But to troopers who arrested her at gunpoint, it was a fake bomb.

  "She was immediately told to stop, to raise her hands and not to make any movement, so we could observe all her movements to see if she was trying to trip any type of device," (State Police Maj. Scott) Pare said. "Had she not followed the protocol, we might have used deadly force." He added, "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."
  

By the way, remember the Cartoon Network Ad Campaign that ran for three weeks before somehow suddenly paralyzing Boston? What's really going on here-- suppression masquerading as safety, or Post 911 Paranoia Gone Wild?

• Smart or Violent? Frameshop: 2013: from this week's topic on The Campaign Frame with Jeffrey Feldman.

• MUST READ: Tyranny of the Tiny Minority: by David Sirota "Wondering why Congress rarely passes anything the public wants? ...learn not only why Washington is paralyzed, but also where to look for domestic progress, and how stopping bills — rather than passing them — is probably the only way to end the Iraq war right now." AND Dem Leadership Rolls "Over the Dead Bodies" Of Its Rank-and-File : Democrats regained control of Congress last year after a campaign in which many candidates promised to block future trade deals...While many rank-and-file Democrats fear that trade deals erode American jobs, Democratic leaders have developed close ties with Wall Street and with many high technology and industrial companies...

• Report on the Slow Heat Death of the Human Race: Top 100 Ways Global Warming Will Change Your Life: Honestly, it's so bad I couldn't pick a place to begin...

• Last But Not Least: If you still have time, see this movie No End In Sight: the documentary our chicken-shit media should have made.